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Published: January 17th 2009
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2009 Ball
The ball drops here at the first second of 2009. After lunch, my aunt tagged us along to a trip to the mall called Fortunoff. She wanted us to see the beautiful Christmas decors on display even after Christmas Day. She says she has the habit of buying Christmas decors for the next year because they are slashed more than half the price! Unfortunately, there were not much decors to see anymore... they were all sold! Sounds ironic, huh, despite the current economic crisis. I am sure everyone's buying only items that are on big discounts.
Manhattan Skyline
From Manhasset, my uncle and aunt drove us to Manhattan. It took us about 45 minutes till we were able to see the magnificent Manhattan Skyline from afar. It was the first time My Mom saw it. Like I always say, Chicago's Skyline is microscopic compared to this one. Haha!
We passed through a tunnel underwater (under East River) and then, found ourselves amidst tall skyscrapers. We passed through the Battery Park and then the Chelsea Area. (Ahemm, it's still a dream of mine to walk the streets of Chelsea and see the Food Network Test Kitchens!)
Hudson River and the bodies of water around Manhattan
Busy Times Square
A view from the car We were driving along the west side of the island of Manhattan and we passed by
Intrepid, a postwar ship that is now a museum. (I must have missed that on my trip here last year.) It's floating on the
Hudson River which acts as a border between New York and New Jersey.
I wondered if
Hudson River goes all the way up to Ottawa, but now I realize I was wrong. There's no such thing! Haha! I must have mixed up Hudson with Huron which is not actually a river but a lake. But yep, Lake Huron spans out to Canada, but not in Ottawa. I thought I figured it all out. Tsk!
To add to the confusion, my uncle mentions the New York State Canal System. He starts to talk about waterways, water levels, and ships and even the Panama Canal. I may not know a lot about these things but I notice that bodies of water give birth to a nation, and maintains the life of a nation. Note to self: Read up!
The Bright Lights of Times Square
After a few errands at Central Park West, off we
go to that specific place in New York that NEVER sleeps -- Times Square! It's hard to describe how alive it feels seeing all those signs and lights seemingly larger than life. The huge Broadway and movie billboards reflect the bright lights that surround them. As always, the child in me is fascinated by the moving words and stock prices around the trading-related buildings. Even McDonalds has a blinking, bright sign.
As we approach the building where the 2009 ball drops, my cousin shows us the new
Red Steps right across it. There are so many people standing on these red steps, I wonder what that was for... I also wonder if is strong enough to handle that much people on it.
We passed by
Grand Central Terminal which reminds me again of the movie,
I am Legend. I showed My Mom the
Waldorf-Astoria Hotel as we passed by it. The
Empire State Building is easy to find in the skyline because of its green and red colored tip.
NYC's Most Popular Christmas Tree
We parked by Park Ave and 50th so we could walk to the
Rockefeller Center. I think I haven't paid
much attention on parking in NY. It was only now that I notice how my uncle paid for parking. He simply pressed a few buttons, then swiped his credit card into the device built along the curb. Convenient, huh. I am not aware if there's such a thing in Chicago, though.
We went inside the
Park Avenue Plaza which has a free public space. It had cute decors like a town of bears doing woodwork, but my favorite is the little fishing village of penguins.
With anticipation, all of us walked to
Saks Fifth to see their window display for this year. We were in line, patiently waiting for our turn to see what's this year's theme. There were dinosaurs, dolls dressed in Bohemian-style clothes, pretzels, etc... all trying to depict the life of Mike, the snowflake. I think I prefer last year's theme of snowman.
Across the street is the Rockefeller Center. There were lots of people in the area but we managed to take a few group photos by the Rockefeller Christmas Tree. I am not always sentimental, but I suddenly felt a tug in my heart, feeling grateful for these moments that my small
Rockefeller Center
Notice the 3 various modes of transportation available sharing one road family of 3 is complete and I realize we are spending the Holidays together with my uncle's family!
I learned that since last year, that Christmas tree uses energy-saving lights. Very good!
We walked to 49th and I notice that place where The Today Show is made. The windows are bare and no show is airing as of the moment but I wanted to walk there and just wave to the camera (which isn't on, ofcourse). Haha! Anyway, I was happy enough to have my picture taken with an NYPD police car. Haaa!
At one corner, we saw Magnolia Bakery! Ahah! They have a branch here, I never knew that! It doesn't look as busy as the one Sheila and I saw at Bleecker. But maybe they just ran out of cupcakes to sell.
Going home, we took the
Queensboro Bridge. I guess it was the first time I saw it. As we got to the other end in Queens, Long Island I saw this huge sign that says, Silvercup Studios. I asked my uncle about it and he says it's where The Cosby Show was filmed.
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